Page 32 of Resisting the Fall
I gave a mostly confident nod. “Yeah.”
She shook her head, taking a small step away. “I don’t get you.”
That made two of us.
I quickly tied my laces, grabbed my shoulder pads and helmet, then jogged toward the football field with Tate at my side. We technically weren’t late for Saturday practice yet, but we were cutting it close.
Coach glanced at his watch as we came running up. “Two minutes later and you Walker boys would be running laps.”
Tate sent me a relieved look. After spending the last several hours moving hay bales, running extra laps would have done us both in.
A commotion to our left sent the three of us glancing in that direction. A group of guys were circled up, and someone was shouting.
“Hey!” Coach yelled, starting toward the group. He pulled at the players’ jerseys standing around the outside to make his way into the scuffle. “Break it up!” I heard him yell.
“Is that Carson?” Tate asked when the guys started to separate.
It was!
Coach had a hold of Carson’s arm and was directing him toward the track. “Run it off, Price.”
Carson tossed his helmet on the ground, followed by his shoulder pads, then started running. His face was red and he looked furious. I’d never seen Carson angry before.
The team had just finished with warmups before Coach signaled for Carson to stop running and join us. Carson retrieved his gear from the sideline where he’d tossed it and made his way over to where I stood right as Coach started into what we needed to improve after last night’s game.
“What was that about?” I whispered.
Carson’s jaw clenched, and he shook his head.
After a few minutes, Tate caught my eye and his gaze flicked across from us to a group of seniors. Levi stood in the middle of them with a smug expression, his arms crossed and his gaze fixed on Carson.
My stomach dropped. What’s the one thing that could make Carson as mad as he was? “Did it have to do with Maven?” I hissed.
Carson gave a tight swallow, and he looked like he was fighting back a wave of emotions. “Levi took her up to The Ridge after the game last night, and when she wouldn’t give him what he wanted, he left her up there.” Carson’s teeth clenched. “All by herself.”
My vision darkened at the edges, and my chest felt weighed down by the air in my lungs. I couldn’t respond. I could hardly think with the intensity of blood pumping through me.
“Okay, everyone, let’s run through some of our newer plays.” Coach blew his whistle and gestured to the field. “Starters, take your position.”
Carson shoved his helmet on and I did likewise, then I lined up across from him and the rest of the offense at the line of scrimmage. I felt oddly disconnected from myself, but when Levi signaled the snap, then immediately pitched the ball backward to the running back, my focus clarified. They were running the flea flicker.
Levi darted through the linebackers, holding his hands above his head to receive the pass, but the moment the ball touched his fingertips, I drove into him with my shoulder, taking us both to the ground.
When I climbed off of him, Levi was gasping for air.
I pulled the mouth guard from my mouth. “If you so much as look at Maven again, you’re going to have a lot more knocked out of you than just the wind.”
Coach jogged over. “What was that, Walker?”
“Instincts,” I answered, readying myself for my consequence.
He glanced at Levi, who had just sat up, looking a little dazed but now breathing steadily. “Maybe you should bring that fire to the playoffs instead of to practice.”
I kept my gaze fixed ahead. “Yes, Coach.”
He pointed to the track. “Twelve laps. Go.”
I yanked off my helmet and pulled my shoulder pads over my head, but before I tossed them to the side, Carson grabbed them from me. “I’ll take ’em,” he said, and it was enough to know he was grateful Levi had gotten a small piece of what he deserved. It was lucky for Levi that playoffs were next week and there was no way I was going to risk getting benched, or I’d have likely added a black eye as part of the repayment plan for what he’d put Maven through.
